Rails with trails (RWT) are a small subset of

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

s in which a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

remains in use by trains yet also has a parallel recreational

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

. Hundreds of kilometers of RWTs exist in Canada, Europe, the United States, and Western Australia.

United States

As of 2000, there were 1,000 rail trails in operation nationwide, comprising a total length of about 17,750 km /11,029 mi. Only 60 (387 km/240 mi) were rails with trails, up from 37 (246 km/152 mi) in 1996. Thus, on average United States rail trails are long, but the small minority of rails with trails are long. Map of US Rails-with-Trail existing in 2002

Map of US Rails-with-Trail existing in 2002

United States rails with trails with articles on Wikipedia: *

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Ohlone Greenway The Ohlone Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The path is named for the indigenous Ohlone, the first people who live in the area. Route The Greenway begins in Berkeley at the east en ...

** E Line ** G Line ** Sacramento Southern Railroad (SSRR) **

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a rail line and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a corridor between Cloverdale in north ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Green Bay Trail The Green Bay Trail is a rails with trails built on the former Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad. It runs parallel to Metra's Union Pacific / North Line for nearly nine miles from Wilmette, Illinois, to Highland Park, Illinois. It was o ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Calumet Trail The Calumet Trail is an east-west bicycle and multiuse recreational trail in the Calumet region of northwestern Indiana, United States. It runs roughly parallel to U.S. Route 12 and the right-of-way of the South Shore line, along the NIPSCO easeme ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) is a heritage railroad based in Cumberland, Maryland, that operates passenger excursion trains and occasional freight trains using both steam and diesel locomotives over ex-Western Maryland Railway (WM) ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

** Cedar Lake Trail ** Hiawatha LRT Trail ** Kenilworth Trail ** Midtown Greenway ** Southwest LRT Trail *

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Traction Line Recreation Trail The Traction Line Recreation Trail is a multi-use rail trail located in Morristown, New Jersey. This trail uses a rail corridor which was built for the Morris County Traction Company trolley line, which runs alongside New Jersey Transit's Morris ...

** Henry Hudson Trail *

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

** Santa Fe Southern Railway *

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Camp Chase Trail The Camp Chase Trail is a paved multi-use trail in Madison and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It serves as the Southwest Columbus segment of the Ohio to Erie Trail. The entire length of the Camp Chase Trail is part of the Great Amer ...

/ Camp Chase Railway *

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

D&L Trail The Delaware & Lehigh Canal National and State Heritage Corridor (D&L) is a National Heritage Area in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It stretches from north to south, across five counties and over one hundred municipalities. It follow ...

Five Star Trail The Five Star Trail runs nearly 8 miles through Westmoreland County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The trail is alongside an active railroad track, Southwestern Pennsylvania Railroad, that stretches between Lynch Field, a Greensburg city par ...

** Schuylkill River Trail *

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

** Burke-Gilman Trail **

Pierce County Foothills Trail The Foothills Trail is a mostly paved non-motorized rail-trail in east Pierce County, Washington, extending uninterrupted for from Puyallup, Washington through Orting and South Prairie, and terminating in Buckley. The trail is used by cyclists, ...

Safety

A 1997 study of the feasibility of rails with trails identified a need for guidelines concerning RWT crossings, fencing, setbacks, and other items. These guidelines were developed in the form of ''Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned'', which finds that "well-designed RWTs meet the operational needs of railroads, often providing benefits in the form of reduced trespassing and dumping. A poorly designed RWT will compromise safety and function for both trail users and the railroad." FTA-MA-26-0052-04-1. 155 pages. A 1996 study of safety on rails with trails in the United States evaluated 37 existing RWTs in 16 states and concluded that "active railroad lines can function with an adjacent pedestrian, horse, and bike path without problem" and RWTs are "no more dangerous than rail-trails alone or next to busy streets."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rails With Trails

United States

Safety

See also

References

Further reading

External links